Hi experts, good day. :)
I have a question regarding this line "Free taken as in free speech, not free beer.". Richard Stallman said that line. What does it mean?
I'll wait for your answers.
Thanks and God bless. :)
Question regarding this line "Free taken as in free speech, not free beer"
Archived thread 1036861 from Philippine Team. Markdown source: Philippine_Team/thread_1036861_Question_regarding_this_line_"Free_taken_as_i.md
hi shengton!
the line "free as in free speech, not as in free beer" relates to the definition of the term *free software* as explained by the Free Software Foundation.
to quote FSF's definition:
"Free software" is a matter of liberty, not price. It is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.
So to understand that concept, one should think of the word "free" as in free speech (freedom/liberty), and not as in free beer, or free ipod :), etc... (zero price)
and in software development, that means not only can you download and use the software, but also modify and improve the source code if you so choose. Unlike freewares where you can only download and use the software but restricted to viewing, modifying, and reverse engineering the source code.
@daxumaming You mean Free and Freeware are not the same?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeware
Free software is basically a philosophical matter whereas Freeware is economic.
I agree with Jerome, freeware is more of a marketing concept. It can be closed source.
In all honesty, the usage of "Free" in Ubuntu is double edged. It is free as in 'libre' and free as in 'malaya'.
You could watch this for info.. haven't watched the whole video yet...
is this thread still open?
freeware is a free software (obviously), but the source code is disclosed from the public; whereas free/opensource softwares, are free software, and the source code is also available to be modified by others, but still bound under a license/policy such as FSF or GPL...